Throw rug



Oct. 25, 1955 s. s. DoLNlcK Erm.

THROW RUG Filed Nov. 6, 1953 IN VEN TORS 56x97@ gympqnjalmb,

United States Patent O I lll THROW RUG Seymour Dolnick and Stanley G.Glen, Milwaukee,

Wis., asslgnors to Rhea Manufacturing Company, a corporation ofWisconsin Application November 6, 1953, Serial No. 390,57 6

2 Claims. (Cl. 154-49) This invention relates to a throw rug and morespecifically to a throw rug comprising a mat and a removable covertherefor.

It is the general object of the invention to provide such a rug of newand improved construction.

Another object of this invention is to provide a rug as described abovehaving a tendency to normally assume a flat position so as to maintainitself ilat and extended when placed on a oor surface, said rug havingan under portion serving as a non-skid floor engaging surface for therug.

Another object is to provide such a rug that may be easily picked up,carried or laid out without causing the mat to drop out of the pocketand yet arranged so that the cover may be easily removed for washing.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved throwrug embodying a mat of corrugated rubber having an area coextensive withthe surface area of a cover and being designed to normally assume a flatposition when placed on a floor surface so as to retain the rug flat andextended, the corrugated surfaces of the mat serving to retain the coverin position on the mat and a portion of the underside of the mat forminga non-sliding floor engaging surface for the rug, and a cover for saidmat of water-absorbing, fast-drying fabric material having its edgesturned under and stitched together diagonally at their corners toprovide a continuous pocket extending around the under edge of the rugfor receiving and retaining the edges of the rubber mat.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdetailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the rug positioned upon a floorsurface;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the rug;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the rug showing one corner of the rubbermat removed from the cover pocket;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the cover without the rubber mat; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view along the line 5 5 in Fig. l.

While I have shown in the drawings and shall herein describe in detail apreferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that I donot hereby intend to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed.It is contemplated that various changes may be made by those skilled inthe art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asexpressed in the appended claims.

As shown in the drawings, a rug comprises a slipcover 7 having a pocket8 extending around its under edge to receive the edges of a rubber mat 9of substantially the same dimensions as the cover so that the mat isco-extensive with the surface area thereof.

The cover 7 is preferably formed of a fast-drying moisture-absorbentfabric material such as ribbed cotton chenille which is suicientlynon-elastic to retain its shape when wet and of a fairly loose weave soas to facilitate the passage of air between the cover and mat forfast-drying action. A substantially rectangular panel 10 of the materialcomprises the upper surface of the cover 7 and ICC trapezoidally-shapedunderfolds 11, adjacent each edge of the panel, are stitched togetheralong their diagonally adjacent ends 12 to form the underside of thepocket 8 extending continuously around the under edge of the panel 10.

The free hemmed edges 13 of the underfolds 11 terminate adjacent theunderside of the mat 9 to define the outer extremities of a non-slidingfloor engaging surface 14 for the rug. In a preferred construction of arug, approximately 18 by 30 inches in size, said surface may compriseapproximately one-third of the bottom surface area of the mat. The areais sufficient to insure stability of position of the rug when placed ona oor surface. The width of the pocket is also such as to allow readyremoval of the mat from the cover and yet retain the mat in unitaryassociation with the cover so the rug may be picked up, carried or movedinto position on a floor surface without causing the mat to drop out ofthe pocket, and to this end the preferred width of the pocket isapproximately one-fourth of the width of the rug, it being understoodthat the width of the pocket varies with the rug size and may vary inrelation thereto so long as its function as aforestated is achieved.

The mat 9 is preferably formed of corrugated, molded, porous, resilientsponge rubber so as to provide a light weight resilient backing for thecover 7 which is pleasing r to walk upon and yet of sufcient stiffnessto give the rug substantial body and a tendency to normally assume a atposition so as to prevent rumpling and retain the rug at and extendedalong a oor surface when thrown thereon.

The corrugated upper surface 15 and lower surface 16 of the mat arenon-porous and substantially non-moisture absorbent and are corrugatedto give a gripping effect to the floor engaging under surface 14 as wellas to all portions of the mat in engagement with the cover to preventthe cover from sliding across the surface of the mat and rumpling. Undersurface 16 comprises a multiplicity of interjoining ribs 17, terminatingin substantially the same horizontal plane when the mat is horizontaland spaced in parallel adjacent chains 18 extending the Width of themat. Each of said chains is composed of parallel ribs disposed at aslight angle from the longitudinal axis of the rug, interjoining ribs ofadjacent chains meeting in such a manner that said chains form aherringbone design in said under surface. Adjacent ribs define aplurality of shallow cavities 19 which become operative to retain therug in position along a oor surface when a downward force is applied tothe upper surface of the rug thereby compressing the rib members,defining said cavities, against said iloor surface so that said cavitieshave a suction effect thereon.

The tendency of the rug to iatten itself along a floor surface insuresmaximum effect of the iloor engaging area of the rug while the ribs andcavities on the underside of the mat provide oor gripping means equallyoperable on dry or wet slippery surfaces, such as bathroom oors, whereona rug of ordinary design might easily slide. Effect of the cavities, ofcourse, increases when the mat is positioned on a wet floor surface.

The upper surface of the mat comprises a multiplicity of inverteddimplesr20 deiined by narrow cavities 21, complementing the ribs andcavities of the underside of said mat to provide gripping means for saidupper surface in engagement with the cover as aforestated.

Thus, it may be seen that I have provided a rug embodying a light weightmolded rubber mat and removable cover therefor, the rug being designedso that it has a normal tendency to assume a flat etxended position whenplaced along a iioor surface. This tendency serves to give full effectto gripping means provided by the mat for engagement with a supportingsurface and all portions of the cover to prevent the rug from slippingor piling up along said` surface and to prevent the cover from slidingacross the surface of the matf and rumpling. The rug has a resilientbody pleasing to walk upon and may be easily picked' up and spread outwithout causing themat to drop out ofl the pocket. The cover is easilyremovable for washing and drying and a second coverY may be used withthe mat while the rst is drying or covers may be interchanged to varythe color scheme.

We claim:

l. A throw rug comprising; a substantially rectangular topV panel ofloosely-woven ribbed cotton chenille having hemmed free edges foldedagainst its under side and stitched together diagonally to form theunder side of a pocket, said pocket having a substantially uniform widthand' extending continuously around the under edges of said panel forreceiving and retaining the edge portions of a mat, a substantiallyrectangular mat formed of lightweight sponge rubber with corrugatedwater-resistant surfaces and having an area coextensive with the surfacearea of said panel, said mat having its edge portions positioned in saidpocket so that said corrugated surfaces coextensively engage said panelto prevent the panel from sliding across the mat and rumpling, saidrubber mat possessing suicient inherent stiffness to normally tend toflatten itself along a oor surface when placed thereon and beingsufciently heavier than the panel to flatten and extend the same, eachunderside of said pocket extending inwardly from the edges of said mat adistance equalling approximately one-fourth the width of said mat toretain said mat in unitary association with said panel and yet allow itsready removal therefrom, and a multiplicity of interjoining raised ribportions extending from the underside of said mat and dening a pluralityof suction cavities therein to provide floor-gripping means for saidrug.

2. A throw rug comprising; a panel of moistureabsorbing, quick-dryingfabric material having hemmed free edges folded against its under sideand stitched together to form the under side of a pocket, said pockethaving substantially uniform width and extending continuously around theunder edges of said panel for receiving and retaining the edge portionsof a mat, a mat formed of resilient material and having an areacoextensive with the surface area of said panel, said mat having itsedge portions positioned in said pocket, said mat possessing sucientinherent stiffness so as to normally tend to atten itself along a floorsurface when placed thereon and being sufficiently heavier than thepanel to llatten and extend the same, and the undersides of said pocketextending a substantial distance inwardly from the edges of said mat tointimately retain said mat in unitary association with said panel andyet allow its ready removal therefrom.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D.165,268 Clark Nov. 27, 1951 1,118,220 Oplustil Nov. 24, 1914 2,191,956Coldren Feb. 27, 1940 2,527,116 Chapman Oct. 24, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS441,239 Great Britain Jan. l5, 1936

1. A THROW RUG COMPRISING; A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR TOP PANEL OFLOOSELY-WOVEN RIBBED COTTON CHENILLE HAVING HEMMED FREE EDGES FOLDEDAGAINST ITS UNDER SIDE AND STICHED TOGETHER DIAGONALLY TO FORM THE UNDERSIDE OF A POCKET, SAID POCKET HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM WIDTH ANDEXTENDING CONTINUOUSLY AROUND THE UNDER EDGES SAID PANEL FOR RECEIVINGAND RETAINING THE EDGE PORTIONS OF A MAT, A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULARMAT FORMED OF LIGHTWEIGHT SPONGE RUBBER WITH CORRUGATED WATER-RESITANTSURFACES AND HAVING AN AREA COEXTENSIVE WITH THE SURFACE AREA OF SAIDPANEL, SAID MAT HAVING ITS EDGE PORTIONS POSITIONED IN SAID POCKET SOTHAT SAID CRRUGATED SURFACES COEXTENSIVELY ENGAGE SAID PANEL TO PREVENTTHE PANEL FROM